Security Deposit Not Returned in Michigan: What Can I Do?
Michigan law limits what your landlord can take from your security deposit and sets deadlines for returning it. It covers the notice your landlord must send, how to reply, and what you can do if your landlord breaks these rules.
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Your landlord can only use your security deposit for 4 things. Those are damage you caused beyond normal use, unpaid rent, including rent for leaving early, and unpaid bills for utilities (water, electric, gas). Your landlord cannot use your deposit for anything else.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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After you move out, you must tell your landlord in writing, within 4 days, where to send you mail about your deposit. If you do not send this address, your landlord does not have to mail you the notice about the damage. But you can still ask for your deposit back later.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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You must tell your landlord in writing, within 4 days after you move out, where to send mail about your deposit. If you do not, your landlord can keep the money for the damage claimed without going to court first. Normally your landlord must go to court and win before keeping money you dispute. You can still take your landlord to court later to try to get your deposit back.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord might want to keep part of your deposit for damage. If so, your landlord must mail you a notice within 30 days after you move out.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord must send you a written list of damage to the home that it will charge against your deposit. The list must show each item of damage, what it will cost to fix, and how much your landlord is charging you for it.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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When you get the landlord's notice about the damage, you have 7 days to reply. Reply by mail and say whether you agree or disagree with each damage charge, in detail. The day you mail your reply counts as your response date.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord's written list of damage must tell you to reply by mail within 7 days after you get it. If you do not reply by mail within 7 days, you lose the amount your landlord claimed for damage.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord must send you the rest of your deposit as a check or money order, along with the notice. Instead, your landlord can pay you another way, like a direct deposit or a mobile payment app. If your landlord pays this way, the money must reach your account within 10 days after your landlord mails the notice.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord has 30 days after you move out to mail you a written list of damage it will charge against your deposit. If your landlord misses this deadline, your landlord gives up the right to keep any of your deposit for damage. Your landlord must then return your full deposit to you right away.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord has 45 days after you move out. In that time, your landlord must return the rest of your deposit or start a court case for the damage money. After 45 days, your landlord cannot start that court case. Your landlord can keep part of your deposit without going to court in 4 cases. One case is if you did not give a forwarding address. Another is if you did not respond to the landlord's written list of damage it will charge you. Another is if you and your landlord agreed about it in writing. Another is if the full amount claimed is unpaid rent you owed.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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Your landlord must return your deposit or sue you for the damage money within 45 days. Your landlord does not have to sue first if you gave no forwarding address or did not answer the written list of damage. The same is true if you both agreed in writing, or the amount claimed is only unpaid rent. If your landlord does not follow this rule, your landlord owes you double the amount it kept. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays. For example, if your landlord kept $1,000 of your deposit, double is $2,000.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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You can go to court yourself to get your deposit back. Michigan's attorney general can also take legal action to enforce these rules. Either way, the case must be filed in the county where your landlord lives or does business.
✓ Sources checked September 29, 2026
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